supporters – canada.comhttp://o.canada.com
Canada's great, shareable storiesTue, 26 Sep 2017 19:54:27 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/15edae77ebfa450ee5bb897103fdef31?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngsupporters – canada.comhttp://o.canada.com
Liberal vote to be decided by weighted voting and preferential ballothttp://o.canada.com/uncategorized/liberal-vote-to-be-decided-by-weighted-voting-and-preferential-ballot
http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/liberal-vote-to-be-decided-by-weighted-voting-and-preferential-ballot#respondFri, 12 Apr 2013 19:29:33 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=230550]]>Tens of thousands of registered Liberal Party of Canada members and supporters each get a weighted vote and a preferential ballot to choose a new leader in an election process that wraps up on Sunday.

By mid-afternoon on Friday, the party was reporting 84,803 votes cast out of 127,173 eligible voters.

Each federal riding will have 100 points for a total of 30,800 points and the winner must get at least 15,401 points to win.

But unlike in federal elections in which each riding is either won or lost by one candidate, the candidates in this contest will be awarded points proportional to their votes in that riding.

For example, a candidate who received 60 per cent of the vote in a riding would be awarded 60 points and one that received 40 per cent in a particular riding would get 40 points for that riding.

For the first time, the party created a “supporter” category, that allowed any interested Canadian to vote without paying a party membership fee. Those votes count the same as those of any party member in all ridings.

All eligible members and supporters who registered to vote received online instructions and codes to vote either over the phone or on a special website between the opening voting day on April 7 until Sunday at 3 pm Eastern Time.

Each voter could select any of the six candidates in order of preference, and there was no requirement for the voter to select any specific number of candidates on the ballot. In other words, each voter could choose from one to six candidates on the ballot in order of preference.

After the first choices are counted, if one candidate has more than 50 per cent of all the available points, the election is over. However, if the leading candidate fails to meet that threshold, the candidate with the lowest amount of votes is dropped and his or her ballots would be transferred to a voter’s second choice, or discarded if there was no second choice.

This process would continue until one candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the available points.

The Liberals are scheduled to announce results after 5 pm Eastern Time on Sunday in a downtown Ottawa hotel, and they also plan to broadcast the results on their website.

]]>http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/liberal-vote-to-be-decided-by-weighted-voting-and-preferential-ballot/feed0lib1mikejdesouzaJustin Trudeau secures about 150,000 new Liberal supportershttp://o.canada.com/uncategorized/justin-trudeau-secures-about-150000-new-liberal-supporters
http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/justin-trudeau-secures-about-150000-new-liberal-supporters#respondMon, 04 Mar 2013 18:06:45 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=208966]]>OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau’s success in recruiting more than 150,000 new party supporters for the federal Liberals left most of his rivals at a loss for words Monday – all but assuring him a win, according to some observers.

But all of his rivals suggested the Liberal party’s top job was still up for grabs until the voting day.

Prospective members or supporters had until Sunday to sign up for eligibility to elect the party’s next leader in an April 14 vote.

But Trudeau’s numbers may have stunned some party insiders involved in the race who were expecting the entire field of candidates to recruit about 120,000 supporters in total, said one veteran Liberal who has not yet decided which candidate to support.

“It’s only reality to say that Justin Trudeau appears to have a commanding lead,” said Akaash Maharaj, who served as national policy chairman of the federal Liberals for five years until 2003. “And it will be, again, unprecedented for another candidate to be able to catch up to him. But stranger things have happened.”

While other leadership candidates were reluctant to speak about their own totals, Trudeau spokeswoman Kate Monfette said the Montreal MP’s leadership team was pleased with results, driven by a team of more than 10,000 volunteers.

“But this number only represents the start of a process,” said Monfette. “We need to continue working hard to ensure that these people confirm their (membership) with the party and that they vote in April.”

The party is allowing non-members to participate in the leadership vote without paying any fees, provided that they sign a form agreeing to be a party “supporter.”

The eligible supporters and members now have until March 14 to register for the vote. But lists and contact information of supporters from different leadership camps will now be shared among the candidates, allowing each to make appeals to their rivals’ supporters.

The party’s president, Mike Crawley, said Monday that the Liberals saw a “surge” of new supporters signing up prior to the deadline that “exceeded expectations.”

In a message posted on Twitter, Crawley said the party would need a few days to verify the names and get firm totals.

Martha Hall Findlay, who previously represented a Toronto-area riding in the House of Commons, said she had signed up thousands of new supporters, but declined to give specifics and downplayed the importance of the numbers.

In a statement on her website, she said that supporters and members could change their mind at any time about which candidate they would support. She also said that each riding would have equal clout in the final vote, regardless of the number of supporters in each.

“That means a campaign like ours, which has been attracting a broad-base of support across a wide geographic base, will be in a much stronger position than a campaign which signs up a large number of supporters concentrated in a few cities or regions,” she said.

Marc Garneau, another Montreal MP, and Joyce Murray, a Vancouver MP, both declined to comment on their recruitment totals, saying that the most important numbers would be announced on April 14.

Murray, who said she had been surging in recent days because of her pledge to co-operate with other parties to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, suggested that Trudeau’s camp was misleading people with his numbers.

“We may have a different interpretation and there’s no way of ever verifying one way or another so really I’m focused on speaking with people over the coming five weeks, letting them know what I’m offering,” Murray said outside the House of Commons. “We’ve seen a huge momentum of support for me. We’re very happy with the numbers going forward and I’m very optimistic about my chances for success in this race.”

Murray’s spokesman Brenden Johnstone added that the Vancouver candidate wanted to stick to talking about substantive issues in her platform that mattered to Canadians.

The other four candidates – David Bertschi, Martin Cauchon, Deborah Coyne and Karen McCrimmon – did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

]]>http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/justin-trudeau-secures-about-150000-new-liberal-supporters/feed0Liberal leadership debatemikejdesouzaBob Rae discusses most important changes from Liberal party convention — videohttp://o.canada.com/uncategorized/bob-rae-discusses-most-important-changes-from-liberal-party-covention-video
http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/bob-rae-discusses-most-important-changes-from-liberal-party-covention-video#respondSun, 15 Jan 2012 21:02:21 +0000http://postmediacanada.wordpress.com/?p=28948]]>Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae says changes to the party structure that were adopted by members at the biennial convention in Ottawa are unlike anything being offered by other political parties in Canada.

Liberals adopted Saturday night what they hope will be a revolutionary way of doing politics in Canada, becoming the first national party to allow outsiders to have a say in choosing its direction and leader.

Canadians interested in the party — but don’t necessarily want to be card-carrying Liberals — will now be able to sign on for free provided they are not members of another political party and after pledging support for Liberal principles. They will be able to vote in national leadership campaigns and participate in riding association meetings.

Members had been asked to let supporters vote for local candidates, but concerns that the party could be hijacked by outside influences or other groups led to the motion being narrowly defeated.

On Sunday, Rae summarized to reporters what he thought were the most important changes adopted at the convention. Here’s some video of Rae, next to new Liberal party president Mike Crawley, speaking to reporters:

]]>http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/bob-rae-discusses-most-important-changes-from-liberal-party-covention-video/feed0jasonfeketeFederal Liberals make history; first national party to open decision-making to non-membershttp://o.canada.com/uncategorized/federal-liberals-make-history-first-national-party-to-open-decision-making-to-non-members
http://o.canada.com/uncategorized/federal-liberals-make-history-first-national-party-to-open-decision-making-to-non-members#respondSun, 15 Jan 2012 02:04:11 +0000http://blogs.canada.com/?p=28861]]>Lee Berthiaume and Jason Fekete
Postmedia News

OTTAWA — Liberals adopted Saturday night what they hope will be a revolutionary way of doing politics in Canada, becoming the first national party to allow outsiders to have a say in choosing its direction and leader.

The controversial decision was met with raucous applause from thousands of delegates packed into a convention centre hall only blocks from Parliament Hill who felt the change was necessary to bring the party back from the brink.

“We’ve taken two huge steps that I believe will transform Canadian politics,” said national party president Alfred Apps.

Canadians interested in the party — but don’t necessarily want to be card-carrying Liberals — will now be able to sign on for free provided they are not members of another political party and after pledging support for Liberal principles. They will be able to vote in national leadership campaigns and participate in riding association meetings.

Members had been asked to let supporters vote for local candidates, but concerns that the party could be hijacked by outside influences or other groups led to the motion being narrowly defeated.

Before the vote, interim Liberal leader Bob Rae called the proposal an “extraordinary” opportunity and implored delegates to vote in favour of it so the party could begin the process of rebuilding.

He wasn’t alone in supporting the idea, with many Liberals saying it was necessary or the party would otherwise continue to sink into oblivion.

“The danger for the Liberal party is not from changing, it’s from not changing,” said Ken LeDez, a delegate from St. John’s East, in advance of the vote.

“People want to see a bold, unmistakably new, different and better Liberal party. The change does not need to be perfect right now. But the change does need to be now.”

But the idea wasn’t without significant opposition, with many Liberals worried about infiltration from outside groups and others describing it as a “gimmick” that won’t address the party’s root problems.

“There are no quick fixes,” said Jack Siegel, a delegate from the Toronto riding of York Centre. “There is simply no way a gimmick is going to give us a database when what we need is hard work in the streets all the time.

“We should not be having two classes of Liberals in this party or in this country.”

Others were angry they were not given more time to examine and debate the proposal and a raft of other changes to the party’s constitution before being forced to vote on them.

“We don’t know if we’ve had adequate due process to analyze the amendments proposed,” said delegate Catherine Ryan, who had asked that voting on all the changes be delayed.

“They’ve been on the web just a matter of a few weeks and many seniors aren’t on the web and many rural people are not on the web.”

The vote was also plagued with technical problems as an electronic voting system introduced for the first time during this convention left some delegates complaining their votes were not counted.

Organizers said there were 3,200 voting delegates attending the convention. According to the electronic tally, about 2,000 delegates cast their votes, with 73 per cent supporting the motion.

A second electronic vote confirmed the results with 75 per cent support. Several delegates who called for a manual tally were shouted down.

Members were clearly worried that if they didn’t adopt the changes, Canadians would feel the party was stuck in limbo.

“Today, right now, we can choose tomorrow’s headline,” said Alberta provincial Liberal party campaign chair Corey Hogan, whose party implemented a similar system last year.

“‘Same old Liberals, but now with debt problems.’ Or ‘Liberals have reclaimed the title of Canada’s oldest, most innovative, most welcome political party.’”

Earlier in the day, delegates voted to let the party leader appoint some candidates in ridings, a decision that was derided by some as the type of top-down decision-making that had hurt the party for a decade.

A convention that is focused on rebuilding has also seen a lot of attention directed to what’s seemingly the party’s favourite pastime: leadership discussion.

Indeed, the leadership rumour mill is churning once more, with Rae refusing to say whether he wants the job permanently, and the McGuinty brothers — Dalton and David — leaving members wondering if they’ll take runs at the party crown.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who electrified thousands of Liberals with a keynote speech Friday night, sparked wild speculation he’s interested in trading Queen’s Park for Parliament Hill — although a senior official in his camp insists he’s not interested in the job.

But the premier’s brother — Ottawa MP David McGuinty — said Saturday he is considering running in next year’s party leadership race and will take at least a few months to consider his options and test his support.

Furthermore, former Liberal cabinet minister Martin Cauchon hosted a hospitality suite at the convention, whichmany delegates viewed as a sign he’ll run for the leadership.

Rae said this weekend he loves being interim leader but won’t say whether that means he’ll run for the crown in 2013.

Convention delegates, however, are clearly split over whether Rae should be allowed to run for the permanent leadership of the party.

“It’s not that Bob said he wouldn’t run, he said he can’t run,” said Michael Kaerne of Burnaby, B.C.

“If (party executives) change that in order to obviously run someone who is a great leader, who is a great orator, I think they should do it. He’s a guy who could win.”

But Chris Kelly, a delegate from Ottawa South, said Rae accepted the interim leadership on the condition he wouldn’t run.

Rae is already on the defensive for his time as Ontario NDP premier in the 1990s, Kelly said, and going back on that promise would give the Conservatives more ammunition against him.

“Being from Ontario, I know the baggage that Bob carries as premier of Ontario for the NDP,” Kelly added. “He was a great leader, he’s had his moment in the sun.”